As the price of Bitcoin [BTC] begins to touch its lows of January 2021, the majority of the market is motivated by fear. Players in the market have now started mass distribution of the coin to save their investments. However, many who believe in the intrinsic value of Bitcoin still hold onto the token in anticipation of an uptrend.
One of the optimists about the eventual success of the largest cryptocurrency is Jan Van Eck, the CEO of a global investment manager, VanEck. The CEO, in a recent interview with Forbes, at the Consensus Cryptocurrency Conference in Austin, Texas, shared his general outlook towards the market. Speaking about his hopes for the future of bitcoin, he further stated that he believes bitcoin could reach $250,000. However, he added a caveat that this could take a few years.
Why Bitcoin, you ask?
Comparing Bitcoin to gold, Van Eck stated that:
“BUYERS SEE IT (BITCOIN) AS A COMPLEMENT TO GOLD. THAT IS THE FAST MODEL… AND IT IS VERY DIFFICULT, PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE, TO VARY THAT. BITCOIN WILL GO TO HALF THE MARKET CAP OF GOLD, OR $250,000 PER BITCOIN, HOWEVER THAT COULD TAKE MANY YEARS. IT’S HARD TO PUT A TIME FRAME ON IT.”
Speaking about why he holds this opinion, Van Eck stated that there has been a growth in institutional adoption of the currency. Also, with more institutional adoption in the coming years, the value of Bitcoin should typically grow over time.
“AND ITS INSTITUTIONAL ADOPTION (BITCOIN) IS INCREASING EVERY YEAR. IT IS NOT ONLY INSTITUTIONAL BUYERS, BUT ALSO GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD THAT NEED TO SEE IT AS A USEFUL ASSET. MY BASE CASE ASSUMPTION IS THAT IT WILL HOLD A PLACE IN PORTFOLIOS JUST LIKE SILVER’S HISTORICAL ROLE. GOLD WAS THE FIRST ASSET, BUT PEOPLE OFTEN BOUGHT SILVER OR OTHER PRECIOUS METALS. PEOPLE LOOKING FOR A STORE OF VALUE WILL BE LOOKING FOR GOLD, BUT ALSO BITCOIN. WE ARE IN THE CORE PHASES OF THAT ADOPTION CYCLE, AND THERE MAY BE ADDITIONAL BENEFITS.”
Advising investors on how much Bitcoin should make up their investment portfolios, Van Eck stated that this should be “somewhere between ½% and 3%” of their investment portfolios.
In addition, he mentioned the problems his company faced in getting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a spot Bitcoin ETF that was applied for more than five years ago.
“THE SEC DOES NOT WANT TO APPROVE A BITCOIN ETF UNTIL IT GAINS JURISDICTION OVER THE UNDERLYING CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGES, WHICH MUST HAPPEN THROUGH LAW. AND IN AN ELECTION YEAR, LEGISLATION IS UNLIKELY. I’M EXCITED THAT THERE ARE BIPARTISAN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WHAT THOSE LAWS SHOULD LOOK LIKE,” HE SAID.
Mr. Van Eck’s prophecy put to the test
Despite the severe ongoing market capitulation, data from Glassnode revealed an overall bullish sentiment towards the coin. In a steady uptrend, the number of addresses holding more than one Bitcoin recorded an ATH of 851,921 at press time. With this continued bullish attitude, the largest cryptocurrency could be on its way to marking a spot at $250,000 as predicted.